Juan Esteban Puga Vial was born on 15 April 1961. He became a lawyer by appointment of the Chilean Supreme Court in 1986 after graduating with the highest distinction from the University of Chile Law School. He carried out postgraduate studies at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London (1990–1991) and at Brunel University, Uxbridge, London (2011–2012). He has been a professor of insolvency and corporate law in many Chilean universities, and is currently a professor at the University of Chile Law School, the main and oldest university in Chile. He has published many books on insolvency law, with several editions, and other topics including corporate and company law, and negotiable instruments. He has been recognised many times as the leading Chilean expert in insolvency law by publications including Latin Lawyer (2003), Leading Lawyers (2017), Who's Who Legal (2016–2017), Best Lawyers (2014) and Chambers (2018). He has been asked to help form government-appointed commissions on amending or replacing insolvency legislation since 1987. He is also a member of Insol International, the American Bankruptcy Institute and the Task Force in Insolvency of the World Bank. He speaks Spanish, English and French.
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